Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

Are those Christmas lights in Ontario? Nope it's a map of corn (red) vs soybean (grn) grown in 2013

The 2013 Agriculture Canada (AAFC) crop inventory map for S. Ontario now available.

Southwestern Ontario:Embedded image permalink

Citation: Annual Space-Based Crop Inventory for Canada, 2013, Earth Observation Service, Science and Technology Branch, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. For further details, contact: Andrew.Davidson@agr.gc.ca

Northern Ontario:Embedded image permalink

Image preview

Views: 1974

Comment

You need to be a member of Ontario Agriculture to add comments!

Join Ontario Agriculture

Comment by OntAG Admin on December 23, 2013 at 6:07am

Here is the image that Andrew Davidson mentions....much greater detail.

 

 

Comment by Andrew Davidson on December 22, 2013 at 3:04pm

Hello All: The space-based maps shows here are actually highly accurate (corn = 92%; soybean = 88%). The maps are validated using thousands of ground-based observations collected by our field crews. We are pretty confident that our output maps are of high quality.

So why does the first map not look "right"? It is not actually a problem with the data; rather, it is a by-product of the way that the map-making software renders images at such a broad geographic scale. If you were to zoom into the map to see greater detail, you would see highly detailed maps of field patterns (e.g. http://t.co/NJ7t7LnzZb). But, as you zoom out so that the map covers a greater area, our mapping software sub-samples the map for faster display. As a result, the output becomes overly generalized, and some finer-resolution detail is lost.

To illustrate this, compare the amount of red in the map I link to above to the amount of red in the more generalized map at the top of the page. They look very different, even though they are different "views" of the same map! The difference is due to the map generalization described above.

Feedback on these maps from farmers and producer groups are important to us. However, as I note above, a visual assessment based on the large-area map leads to misleading conclusions because of the rendering issue. But, once we have created versions of these maps that allow zooming -- e.g. in google earth format -- such an assessment would certainly be possible.

If you are interested in further evaluating our data, or for any further questions relating to these maps or what we do, feel free to email me (Andrew.Davidson@agr.gc.ca) or follow me on Twitter (@AndrewMDavidson).

Comment by OntAG Admin on December 21, 2013 at 5:10am

The images are interesting but the feedback from farmers is that the first one is not accurate.

It must be picking up forests and hay or something else...seems like too much green.

Agriculture Headlines from Farms.com Canada East News - click on title for full story

Manitoba Planting Advances; Remains Ahead of Average Pace

Manitoba producers made just minor seeding advances this past week, although overall progress remains ahead of last year and the five-year average.  The weekly provincial crop report pegged seeding at 8% complete as of Tuesday, up 5 points from a week earlier and ahead of 4% last year and 6% on average.   Almost half the spring wheat acres in the Central and Interlake regions have been seeded, the report said, with other regions progressing quickly. Seeding of oats and barley has begun in the Southwest, Central, Eastern, and Interlake regions.  Canola planting has started in the Central region. Sunflowers have also started to be seeded in the Central and Interlake regions. Field peas are being seeded in all regions, while soybean crops are being planted in the Central, Eastern, and Interlake regions.   Manitoba received variable amounts of precipitation over the past four days, ranging from 0 mm to 12.7 mm with most regions receiving less than 0.5 mm.  Southwest:  Good weather ov

Canadian Corn Stocks Hit Decade Low, Soybeans Heavier

Canadian corn stocks as of March 31 fell to a decade low, while soybean stockpiles hit the highest in five years.  Thursday’s Statistics Canada grain stocks report showed total national corn stocks at 7.197 million tonnes, down 13% from a year earlier and the lowest since March 31, 2015, at 6.289 million. In contrast, March 31 soybean stocks were pegged at 2.393 million tonnes, a year-over-year increase of nearly 11% and the heaviest since March 31, 2020.  StatsCan said corn stocks fell amid a more than 50% fall in imports to 1 million tonnes, combined with a doubling in exports to 1.4 million.  Soybean stocks were at least partially buoyed by a larger 2024 Canadian crop, up 8.4% on the year to 7.568 million tonnes.   National on-farm corn stocks as of March 31 decreased 8.5% compared with the same date in 2024, to 4.9 million tonnes, while commercial stocks fell 20.9% to 2.3 million.   On-farm soybean stocks rose 11.1% to 1.4 million tonnes, with commercial stocks up 10.6% to 988

Early Saskatchewan Planting Ahead of 5-, 10-Year Averages

Spring planting is off to quick start in Saskatchewan, with almost 20% of the 2025 crop in the ground already.  The first weekly crop report of the season on Thursday pegged provincewide planting at 18% complete as of Monday. That’s 8 points ahead of the five-year average and 6 points better than the 10-year average. Last year, planting was 12% done at this time.  “Despite multiple storms throughout the province in April, producers were able to get into their fields and make rapid progress over the last couple of weeks,” the report said.  Limited moisture fell throughout much of the province over the last week. The highest reported rainfall was in the Alida area at 16 millimetres (mm) followed by the Lafleche area at 12 mm.  Planting progress is the most advanced in the southwest region, where 43% of the crop was in as of Monday and the first seeded crops starting to emerge. The northwest and southeast regions are also making good progress, at 15% and 14% done, respectively. The we

Understanding Yardage Costs in Cow-Calf Operations

Have you ever wondered where your money goes during the winter-feeding period? Feed costs are easy to spot in a beef cattle operation, but what about the other expenses quietly chipping away at your bottom line? This is where yardage comes in—it is a crucial part of managing winter feeding costs in cow-calf operations.  What is Yardage? Yardage refers to the overhead and non-feed costs incurred while maintaining cattle during the winter-feeding period. These costs include day-to-day expenses such as labor, equipment and building maintenance, fuel, utilities, manure handling and other general expenses like farm taxes and accounting fees. They also include non-cash costs such as machinery and facility depreciation, which represent the graduate loss of value in assets over time. Why Does Yardage Matter to a Beef Producer? Yardage may not grab attention like feed costs, but it significantly impacts profitability. These costs, especially non-cash costs like depreciation, often remain unno

Mother’s Day Q&A with Anna McCutcheon

The hardest part about motherhood is balancing everything, Anna McCutcheon says

© 2025   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service